This invention relates to very small inflatable balloon assemblies for use in combination with shuttlecocks used in the game of badminton.
1. Background Art
The nearest prior art is the inflatable balloon assembly proposed in GB 2 312 855A and WO 97/43018 from which a balloon assembly as specified in the entering clause of claim 1 has been known. The balloon is inflated through a small bore tube which, when removed after inflation, leaves the gas (air) sealed in the balloon. This system is satisfactory when the small bore tube is a very fine tubular needle or when an even finer needle is used to inject the gas into a very small bore plastic tube or, if the latex membrane of a balloon is thick enough to enable a small bore tube of constant diameter to be used. Further, from EP-A-0 111 463 a plastics material ball structure with inflating valve has been known wherein an inflating needle having a smaller external diameter portion may be pressure inserted, with that portion through a capillary hole in an elastic seat. At its end remote from that seat, the inflating needle has a larger diameter threaded portion which is adapted to be connected to a source of pressurized air.
2. Technical Problems to be Solved
A major technical problem is caused by the very small dimensions of the small bore tube necessary to seal the balloon satisfactorily, combined with the necessity that inflation must be done by the user of a shuttlecock and not by the manufacturer.
There are medical objections to the use of a fine tubular steel needle when several people might be handling it as in a club; further, a steel needle causes packing problems. If a plastic tube is used which is small enough to prevent leakage when withdrawn it cannot be inflated direct from a pump. A larger diameter tube can be used if the latex membrane of the balloon is increased in thickness but this is detrimental to the performance of shuttlecocks. A further problem is that badminton clubs leave intervals between playing sessions, so that a replacement balloon becomes necessary for the next session.
The present invention seeks to overcome the above problems in an inflatable balloon assembly for use in combination with a shuttlecock which has an inner skirt, the assembly comprising:
a balloon which incorporates a balloon inlet and an inflatable portion, the inflatable portion having a closed end opposite said balloon inlet,
an inflating device which incorporates a flexible inflating tube, preferably a plastic tube, and
a compressing device such as a small elastic ring, for instance a suitable xe2x80x98Oxe2x80x99-ring, which has a small hole through which the said balloon inlet extends thus forming a compressed area in said balloon inlet.
According to the present invention, the technical problems mentioned above are solved in that
said flexible inflating tube incorporates two parts having substantially different external diameters namely,
a larger external diameter part which remains outside the said compressed area and which is adapted to be connected to a pump or the like and,
adjoining, and preferably integral with, the said larger external diameter part, a substantially smaller external diameter part the free end of which extends through the inside of said balloon inlet within said compressed area thereof into the inflatable portion of said balloon, and
the inflatable balloon assembly further comprises a large bore tube, a part of said closed end of said balloon extending into one end of the said large bore tube, the arrangement being such that the inflatable portion of the balloon may be drawn, by means of said large bore tube,into a space within said shuttlecock which is surrounded by the said inner skirt thereof, the inflatable portion being adapted to be subsequently inflated within said space.
The medical objections are removed because no needles are required either directly or indirectly and an axially outer tube, preferably plastic tube, large enough to permit inflation direct from a pump is combined with an axially inner tube, preferably plastic tube, small enough to ensure that the gas is sealed in the balloon when the axially inner tube is withdrawn. Further, the invention enables the effective life of a shuttlecock to be extended at very small cost because the skirt and cap which are not affected by the said interval, are reused.